Saturday, January 09, 2010

Drumming for peace in Sudan

Music stars from around the world took part in a film to promote peace in Sudan. This week a statement from aid groups said that Sudan was close to resuming it's civil war. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch organized the drumming to kick off a campaign to call world leaders to action. From Sudan 365, comes this cool drumming music featuring Nick Mason, Phil Selway, and Stewart Copeland.

Drummers from Pink Floyd, Radiohead and The Police are joining other musicians to drum for peace in Sudan as part of an international campaign to press world leaders to prevent more bloodshed in Africa's largest nation....

Celebrity drummers are taking part in a "beat for peace" film that features a drumroll starting in the war-wracked nation "and being picked up and passed like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries" -- including Brazil, Egypt, France, Japan, South Africa and the United States.

Drummers will include Radiohead's Phil Selway, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, as well as Egyptian musicians Yehia Khalil and Mohammed Munir and Ghana's Mustapha Tettey Addy.

Nine organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the US group Save Darfur have joined efforts to organise the campaign along with the drummers.

Gatherings are due to take place in a dozen cities across the world on Saturday when the film will be launched on www.sudan365.org and the front page of YouTube, organisers said in a statement.

"I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together," Selway was quoted as saying.